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31 May 2012

The future for Brazil's forests remains uncertain

By SAVE.Brasil

Dilma Roussef, the President of Brazil, has partially vetoed the new Forest Code proposed by the Brazilian Congress. Both the general public in Brazil and the international environmental movement wanted a total veto of the bill.

The President vetoed 12 articles and made an additional 32 modifications on the text of 84 articles. According to the government, these changes will fill the gaps left by the vetoes and rescue some of the concepts of the original Forest Code. “Although the vetoes and modifications are a step back in the right direction, we believe that they will not be enough to guarantee sustainability of the natural environment for future generations,” said Jaqueline Goerck, CEO of SAVE Brasil (BirdLife in Brazil).

“Overall the new Forest Code weakens environmental legislation in Brazil.” These changes made by the President need to be approved by the two houses of the Congress within the next four months (which have already declared discontentment with the new version)..

An international campaign collected signatures of ca. 2.15 million people around the world. “The future for the forests in Brazil is still uncertain and it is likely that more public campaigns will be needed to ensure that a rational decision prevails, ” said Dr Goerck.